Let go of who you think you should be (and be who you are).

Pardon my lack of post this morning. For one, I’m sick. For two, the impending end of the fall semester means it’s crunch time. For three, the transition from the old job to the new one equals six workdays a week for a few more weeks.

(Is it any wonder why I’m sick?)

So instead of a post, I’ll share a video I hope will inspire authenticity in all who watch it. It’s a 20-minute TED talk (well worth your time) by researcher, writer and social worker Brene Brown. Here are some sneak peeks:

“Wholehearted people live from this deep sense of worthiness.”

Wholehearted people have “the compassion to be kind to themselves; we can’t practice compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly.”

Wholehearted people “fully embraced vulnerability. … They didn’t talk about vulnerability being comfortable, nor did they really talk about it being excruciating. They just talked about it being necessary.”

“We are the most in debt, obese, addicted and medicated adult cohort in US history.”

“You can’t selectively numb emotion.”

“When we numb (negative emotions), we numb joy, we numb gratitude, we numb happiness and then we are miserable.”